I am – Hercules!!
* From the “Heroes” panel: Kevin Smith ("Clerks II") will write and direct an episode of the spinoff miniseries “Heroes: Origins” airing in April or May.
* Alex Ross (not Tim Sale) is doing the cover for the “Heroes” graphic novel, which will collect the online comics.
* From the “24” panel: Season seven will begin with Jack Bauer in hot water, facing the U.S. Senate over perceived crimes.
* From the “Galactica” panel: Unbilled Lucy Lawless surprised the crowd to announce her return for two or three episodes of the fourth and final season.
* From the Joss Whedon panel: Whedon just finished writing "the horror film to end all horror films -- literally" with fellow “Buffy”/”Angel” alumnus Drew Goddard. It's called “Cabin in the Woods.” (Goddard, you’ll recall, also wrote J.J. Abrams’ mysterious upcoming “Cloverfield” movie.)
* Whedon will write two issues of "Buffy: Season Eight" between the arcs written by Brian K. Vaughn and Drew Goddard.
* Oz will return.
* Whedon says he's not done with Future Vampire Slayer Malaka Fray.
* Whedon has a new webcomic called “Sugarshock” at myspace.com/darkhorsepresents
* Warren Ellis (“Global Frequency,” “NewUniversal,” “Black Summer” will succeed Joss Whedon as writer on the top-selling “Astonishing X-Men” comic.
* Some who won the “Comic-Con Dinner With Joss Whedon” auction actually got to dine with more than one celebrity. Popular romance novelist Suzanne Brockmann bid for and won two of the six seats at that table for herself and her husband.
* Faith the Vampire Slayer won’t be the only old character reintroduced in issue six of the “Buffy: Season Eight” comic. Read the first few pages here.
* Go-Go Jane Wiedlin was trophy-girl at the Eisner Awards.

Get ready for a two-shot episode about his junkie bbf, his anorexic wife, and AtM. Smith is not very talented and I'm betting these next two movies he does will get him writing/direction for The Asylum rather quickly.

It's always ridiculous how much shit the government gives him after saving the US from terrorism countless times now. Season seven isn't yet shaping up to sound any more promising than six; the flying-by-the-seat-of-their-pants approach is hit or miss, and in five, they really hit, but now it's definitely miss. I'd hope they'd start planning arcs at the beginning of the season, but it sounds like they're already screwing themselves over by waffling between directions.

Smith can't put together anything decent outside of his "universe". I feel sorry for Rosario Dawson if she gets roped into this rip-off "indie porn" movie. The fact is that Smith is juvenile. His humor is junvenile and he puts absolutely no soul into his work. The last bit of Clerks II? The last bit of Dogma? Err, pretty pussy if you ask me. Apatow and company can do juvenile with heart in their sleep. Smith has his "fans" (i.e. 'tard strong hanger-ons) coming to a PROM for his BIRTHDAY PARTY! WTFH? This guy is definitely milking a career and his followers for all he's worth. Check out his site and messageboard....pure commerce. He really doesn't care for these "fans" unless they are knelt down in front of him with their wallets open. Fat fuck.

That is all that Joss Whedon can write. I don't understand why people kiss his ass...all his shit is fucking derivative lackluster pulp for the mindless masses. And Kevin Smith is the king of all hacks. Expect the pilot of that show to be filled with static camera shots of poorly directed but well written dialogue that ends up beeing extremely forced.

I'm chagrined every time I see him in a film. Even Stalones brother is a better actor.
<p> Smith has a single cadence for nearly all his films. Every bit of dialogue has a similar rhythm.
<p> After a while all those characters become interchangeable in their speech patterns.
<p> Can he write comic books better?

...disagree on the Smith bashing.
Smith is what he is. Just like Tarantino, he filters what he likes and tries to come up with some way to put it back on the screen. For QT that's exploitation, B-movies and high violence. For Smith, it's John Hughes' movies, pop culture and Richard Pryor. To criticize them for being what they are is futile.
As to Heroes, I hope that the Origins stuff is done as a nice side thing and that NBC doesn't hinge too much value on it. If it works, great. If not, it should not affect the flow of the show...although if we get some interesting characters, I wouldn't mind seeing some of the regulars die off.

Yes - everyone hates Kevin Smith.
"Smith brought the crowd to its feet and caused one of the actors, likely Greg Grunberg, to exclaim, "No way. Are you serious?""
http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-kevinsmithoriginsdirect,0,531659.story?coll=zap-news-headlines
Like it or not, people love him. Smith-hating is so 2004.
Personally, I like this Heroes news. Looking forward to this and Reaper.

Did anyone else notice that some people on the panel were offended when he said, "Now who's the fag?", in his story about he and his wife watching the show? Using fag as an insult is grade school behavior.

Yes - Smith hates gay people. Which is why he produced Small Town Gay Bar.
(http://theedge.bostonherald.com/tvNews/view.bg?articleid=1012529)
And the Advocate hates him too.
(http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_2000_July_4/ai_63059701)

I have nothing against having a man crush on a talented writer, but Jesus-fucking-tap-dancing-Christ Herc... All that info on Whedon and you give us two bits about shows that are just as good, if not better than Buffy?
More BSG news please. Less Whedon.
And Kevin Smith sucks. That should be pointed out as well.

Kevin Smith Hasn't Proven that he can do ANYTHING outside of his tiny universe of characters.<br><br>That said, I'm a big fan of his little troupe, but that doesn't make me excited one bit that he's writing Heroes.

Okay, that Oz. Ina fucking comic that isn't a tv show regardless of whether you slap "season 8" on the fucking cover or not. Damn it.<p>Well, at least I was happy for like three seconds. Might be a new record.

The worst part of 24 is the fact that no one in government, by now, realises that Jack Bauer has saved them from disaster on NUMEROUS occasions and they still keep arresting him/preventing him from helping them. Now he's on trial? That is what they came up with to open the new season? This show is in big, big trouble...

Until that day, whatever. But for the record, Chasing Amy is Smith's best and most mature movie. Of course, that ain't sayin' much - but it's at least got it's heart in the right place. And seriously, who calls it 'the biz?'

Ba-da-boom! Ka-ching! Seriously, Kevin Smith can really bring the funny sometimes, and he's a big comic book nerd which is great also. The culture would be poorer without films like Clerks, Mallrats or Chasing Amy. But he's also a hit & miss director: even his best films have patches which just don't work and, on his other movies, those patches make up the better part of the film. That said, I'm still looking forward to what he does with Heroes. Like Daredevil, i think he's actually be better writing for other people's properties because more focused and less self-indulgent.

I also noticed that Smith angered some of the panelists. I don't think i saw Quinto applaud him as he left the stage. I did see HRG and Alit Larter applaud him (she was in Jay and Silent Bob). But yes, some of the Heroes were definitely offended.

Yeah, the Askewniverse (is that what you people call it?) really contributed a lot to culture. Not that I didn't enjoy a couple of the films, but goddamn they are not the cultural milestones you want them to be.<br><br>Jim Rome likes NASCAR to play to his redneck/conservative base. When you get that big you have to pander to all sorts of people's politics. He sucks anyway, don't know how anyone listens to him anymore.

if you don't agree, you're not Catholic. Brilliant entertainment. Having Matt Damon in your film doesn't hurt either. Smith is what he is - sometimes brilliant, sometimes hackneyed. He's at least an upfront, honest, engaging guy and I enjoy the fact he doesn't shirk away from feedback on a what he does. He's pretty much your average dork on this forum, with someone backing his film ideas.

I played real football up through college... That said, I did find myself watching the last World Cup. Maybe it's because of the competition at that level, but yeah, soccer is doomed in the US because it lacks offense and the dudes take dives all the time. I still don't get NASCAR though. I've tried. It's boring as all hell to me.